And as the story was reported around the clock, the refrain repeated by every TV host, journalist, pundit, activist and advocate became “Haiti is the poorest country in the Western hemisphere.” With four out five people living in poverty, this is true. However, little attention was given to to how Haiti became such a poverty stricken nation. A combination of outlandish and unjust foreign debts, owed mainly to France, and political corruption, chiefly among the Duvalier regimes, have left Haiti’s economy ravaged. But even where there has been hope, outside forces have conspired to block much needed progress.

Wikileaks, the non-profit whistleblower organization founded by Julian Assange, in partnership with The Nation magazine and the Haitian weekly newspaper Haiti Liberte are publishing a series of reports based 1,918 documents from a seven-year period, starting 10 months before the ouster of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in February 2004, that reveals the United States’ interference in the Haitian government and essentially bullying President Rene Preval to align Haiti’s interests with those of the U.S.

In 2006, Preval visited Venezuela in hopes of striking a deal with PetroCaribe, the state-run oil company that deals with only state-run entities, and in order “to negotiate a[n] energy deal that would bring electricity to more homes and save the Haitian people millions.” When the U.S.learned of this, it blocked the deal for years, enlisting American oil companies Chevron and ExxonMobil to refuse to transport PetroCaribe oil, which would have been necessary for Haiti to sign the deal. Eventually Chevron signed the deal in 2008, but after two years of negotiations the new arrangement served little benefit to Haiti.

Preval also led a campaign to raise Haiti’s national minimum wage by 150 percent — up 37 cents from 24 cents to 61 cents per hour — and caught the ire of the Obama administration. The increase would have had an impact on American companies, such Hanes and Levi Strauss, who contract Haitian laborers to sew their clothes. They insisted the wage increase not exceed 7 cents per hour, while the U.S. Ambassador persuaded Preval lower his target wage of $5 per day for textile workers down to $3 per day. Raising the wages by two dollars would cost Hanes about $1.6 million dollars more in wages to their staff of 3,200 Haitians. The company made $221 million last year on $4.3 billion in sales.

Foreign aid is not a sustainable model for economic growth, but so long as the U.S. undermines Haitian efforts to establish economic independence through sound trade ventures and fair wages that will save money and increase cash flow that could in turn lead to building of infrastructure, the Haitian people suffer. Instead of looking out for the interests of Haiti and the millions in poverty, the U.S. has protected its own political and business interests.

My only thought is: How do we as citizens of the United States make it right?

Ummm yeah OK

Read any John Perkins book…its above our heads…very sad…

JustSaying…

Good question. Here are my thoughts…

The U.S. needs to fly the women and children out of Haiti then drop five atomic bombs on it. Problem solved.

TruthBTold

@JustSaying… You are truly ignorant. That’s all I have to say.

LemonNLime

Honestly is this a surprise to anyone?

Kaye

To be clear, U.S. interference in Haiti goes way, way back to 1804 when they refused to recognize the Haiti as the West’s first black republic so they could protect slavery on their own lands. They out of all nations in the world, besides Haiti, have the biggest to answer for in the destruction of this country and its people.

Rakel

It breaks my heart that there is so much unrest in my parents birth country. The information isn’t that surprising. I just hope the new president makes future plans that are in the best interest of the Haitian people. And hopefully Haiti can one day be able to aid itself again.